1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cosmetic composition comprising a specified black pigment and a cosmetic composition comprising the black pigment and an oil component. The cosmetic composition of the present invention is suitably usable as a composition for temporarily dyeing the hair or a makeup composition for the eyelashes, eyebrows and skin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ordinary compositions for dyeing the hair and makeup compositions for the eyelashes, eyebrows and skin contain carbon black or a black or brown pigment mainly comprising a metal oxide such as an iron oxide. However, it is known that the carbon black contains highly carcinogenic benzpyrene and, in addition, the metal oxides have problems that the blackness thereof is low, that its covering effect is insufficient and that its specific gravity is high. Under these circumstances, there have been various attempts to develop a black pigment harmless to the human body and having a high blackness (i.e. high covering effect). For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 92273/1989 discloses a cosmetic composition comprising fine inorganic particles coated with a black pigment prepared by oxidative polymerization of 5,6-dihydroxyindole which is a melanin precursor with hydrogen peroxide, a periodate or a transition metal salt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,360 discloses a synthetic melanin aggregate prepared by oxidative polymerization of a melanin precursor such as dopa in a polymer network of a porous polymer.
However, the cosmetic composition disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 92273/1989 is not easy to prepare in practice, since 5,6-dihydroxyindole used as the starting material for the black pigment is a quite unstable compound. The color tone of the synthetic melanin aggregate disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,360 is browny black or reddish black so that its blackness is low.